Premier League 2018/19: Rating the title contenders so far: Liverpool

Modified Sep 03, 2018 16:50 GMT

Jurgen Klopp - Liverpool

After finishing as runners up in last season's Champions League final, Liverpool will have been looking for a significant improvement on their fourth place finish in the previous Premier League campaign. Currently sitting joint first this season with 12 points from a possible 12, Jurgen Klopp will be very satisfied with standings so far.

Out of the teams battling for this season's title, Liverpool had arguably the best summer transfer window. The signing of a new goalkeeper was unequivocal after the gaffes that plagued Loris Karius last season, not least his controversial, 'concussed' performance in the Champions League final that arguably cost Liverpool the title. The arrival of Alisson from Roma has significantly strengthened their defence, even despite his minor cock-up against Leicester City that cost his team a goal. With Alisson in goal, the Liverpool defence has already looked much more confident in the four games played this season.

The midfield of Liverpool has also had significant strengthening this summer, with the signings of Fabinho, who can play both in defence and in midfield, and Naby Keita providing resilience and strength that had previously been lacking. Keita's reputation for being a dynamic box-to-box midfielder is something that's been missing in the Liverpool line-up since the days of Steven Gerrard. With Keita being handed Gerrard's former number 8, it's easy to see just what is going to be expected of him at Anfield. With the signing of Xherdan Shaqiri from Stoke, Liverpool's squad looks significantly stronger than it was in the previous campaign.

Having conceded just one goal so far this season, that being due to the error of Alisson, it's easy to see why Liverpool are being touted by many as Manchester City's main contenders for the Premier League title. Their victories so far against West Ham, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Leicester have all been convincing, with Liverpool currently boasting the third highest average possession in the league so far of 58%, only trailing behind Manchester City (65.8%) and Chelsea (64.7%). Their passing success rate (87.1%) and shots per game ratio (16.5) statistics are also third highest, showing their strength in being able to control the game and create significant attacking opportunities.

Leicester City v Liverpool FC - Premier League

From the four games so far, it's difficult to find a reason why Liverpool won't be up there challenging for the title come the end of the season. The evergreen James Milner and young defenders Joe Gomez, Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold continue to perform at a level many wouldn't be expecting to see from them, only serving to show the whole of Liverpool's quality is far greater than the sum of its parts. Despite this, Liverpool are yet to face a top team this term so we're yet to see how they fare against a fellow title contender, although Jurgen Klopp's form against the top 6 has so far been extremely successful in his tenure at Anfield so far.

With Jurgen Klopp in charge and with significant summer recruitment, Liverpool are better placed to fight for the title this season than they have been throughout the entirety of the Premier League era. Liverpool fans will only be praying for the continued fitness of key players such as Mohamed Salah and Foberto Firminho, but will be wary of the post-Christmas dip in form that usually affects Liverpool's title chances.

Rating so far: 10/10